Is it too late to plant spring bulbs?

Bulb planting deadlines are given as though they were absolute and they are not. A spring bulb arrives with next year's flower already formed inside it and needs a cold period and enough time to root. Late planting shortens the rooting window, which may mean a shorter stem or a later flower, but it very rarely means no flower at all. The genuine deadline is not a date in a catalogue — it is the point at which the bulb has dried out or rotted.

Step by step

1. Check the bulbs before deciding anything.Firm and heavy with intact papery skin is good, whatever the date. Soft, light, mouldy or visibly shrivelled bulbs are past saving and should be binned. This matters more than the calendar.
2. Daffodils and narcissi: ideally September, workable into December.They root early and want the longest possible autumn, so September and October are genuinely better. Planted in November or December they usually still flower, sometimes a fortnight late and a little shorter. Planted in January they may flower weakly or wait until the following year.
3. Tulips: November is correct, not late.Tulips are the exception. Planting them in cold soil in November, or even early December, reduces the risk of tulip fire and does not harm flowering. Anyone telling you that you have missed the boat in November is wrong.
4. Crocus, muscari, iris reticulata and other small bulbs: autumn, but forgiving.September to November ideally. They are small and dry out faster than large bulbs, so a bag found in February is more likely to be a loss than a large daffodil would be.
5. Alliums: autumn, and they tolerate late planting well.September to November. Late-planted alliums usually flower more or less normally.
6. Snowdrops and bluebells: the real exception.Both dislike being dry. Dry snowdrop and bluebell bulbs establish poorly and often lose a year. If you are planting these, buy them in the green in spring, or from a supplier who dispatches them freshly lifted.
7. Plant late bulbs in pots if the ground is frozen or sodden.A pot of compost in a sheltered spot outdoors gives them somewhere to root immediately. Plant them out after flowering, or keep them in the pot.
8. Get them in even in January.A bulb planted in January has a genuine chance of flowering, possibly late and possibly poorly, and a certainty of building itself up for the following year. A bulb left in the bag has no chance of anything.
9. Plant a little deeper if you are late.Deeper soil is more even in temperature and gives the bulb a slightly more stable environment for its shortened rooting period.
10. Water them in if the ground is dry.Late-planted bulbs need to root fast. Dry autumn soil, which happens more often than people expect, delays that. A good watering after planting helps.

Tips

• Reduced-price bulbs in November and December are usually perfectly good if they are firm. Bulbs that have been sitting in a warm shop since August often are not — check every one.
• Bulbs found in a bag in spring that are still firm can be planted immediately, or potted up, and will usually flower the following year even if they do nothing this one.
• Bulbs stored in a sealed plastic bag in a warm place rot. If you are going to delay, keep them somewhere cool, dark and airy in paper or netting.
• Late-planted daffodils frequently flower on shorter stems in their first year and normally thereafter.

Common mistakes

• Throwing bulbs away because the packet said October — Firm bulbs planted well after the recommended date usually flower. The date is an optimum, not a deadline.
• Planting tulips in September with everything else — Early planting into warm soil increases the risk of tulip fire. November is the right time for tulips.
• Buying dry snowdrop bulbs in autumn — Snowdrops establish poorly from dry bulbs. Buy them in the green in spring instead.
• Keeping bulbs in a sealed bag in a warm cupboard — They sweat and rot. Cool, dark and airy is the requirement.

Questions people ask